District operations and facilities staff updated the board on two major design and construction efforts and praised improvements in transportation staffing and reliability.

Design and construction status
Dr. Bidding said the transportation center design is nearing the construction-document phase and that a major design meeting was scheduled to finalize details before the district goes out to bid at the end of the month. He said Barton Co. and FCI have led the design and that the project is transitioning into the construction-document phase.

The career (CTE) facility design is moving from the design-development set into construction documents; Dr. Bidding said the design team (architects, engineers and cost estimator Wygant/CMC) held meetings about value engineering to maintain core program elements for 21 career programs while aligning to budget. He said the district is focused on preserving the integrity of those 21 programs as the design is refined.

Willow Creek Middle School progress
Operations staff showed recent drone footage of Willow Creek Middle School and highlighted interior progress such as the band and choir rooms, a sixth-grade multipurpose room with bleachers and the Hatch Learning Center. Staff said site work and turf/field work are advancing week by week.

Transportation staffing and route reliability
The transportation department has been a focus of operations staff comments. Nash figures presented by Dr. Bidding and Mr. Basham included: the district has 73 bus drivers; at the start of summer there were 12 openings and staff filled 10 of those and have three people in training. Dr. Bidding reported a marked improvement in on-time runs: in the first quarter of the prior school year the district ran 138 late routes, while in the same reporting period this year the district has run 26 late routes. He credited Transportation Director Natalie Hoffman, mechanics and drivers for the improvement and noted the department’s work to avoid canceling routes and to double back when required.

Why it matters
The transportation center and the Willow Creek construction are material facilities projects affecting operations, logistics and student learning spaces. Transportation reliability affects families’ daily schedules; administrators presented the driver hiring and late-route reduction as operational successes.

What’s next
The transportation center will move to bid once construction documents are complete; the career/CTE building will continue through construction-document refinement with an eye to budget and program retention. Superintendent Barker said related neighborhood outreach (Baird Road traffic meetings) will follow completion of a traffic study.